View full sizeKemisha Anderson, at the time of her 2012 arrestMultnomah Co. Sheriff's Office

A drunken driver who ran over and killed a woman lying in the middle of the Burnside Bridge has drawn positive comments from many readers who say she appears to have taken her mistakes to heart.

Kemisha Tonesha Anderson said she felt a bump in the road at about 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2012, thought little of it and continued on her way. Dawn Iva-Marie Murray, 44, died on impact. Murray had inexplicably lain down in the middle of the road shortly before Anderson came along.

Police who tracked Anderson down at her home measured her blood alcohol level at .11 percent.

Anderson was convicted of misdemeanor driving under the influence of intoxicants and felony hit-and-run driving. But Anderson was offered the chance to clear her record of the hit-and-run conviction if she complied with a lengthy list of conditions, including attending drug and alcohol treatment and listening to victims of intoxicated drivers talk about how their lives have changed.

Last week, a judge found she'd held up her end of the bargain, so he tossed out the felony conviction.

Readers who said they normally would have little sympathy for a drunken driver found themselves surprised.

lunaclara: Anyone, sober or drunk, might have failed to see someone lying in the road late at night. I say this as someone whose very dear sister-in-law was killed by a drunk driver. That person had previous convictions, was driving on the wrong side of the freeway on a suspended license, and she showed no remorse. Ms. Anderson has no prior convictions, has followed all court orders, and has repeatedly expressed remorse. I cringed when I saw the headline, but the circumstances of this case do seem to merit the judge's actions.

malasada: If this is the case of a remorseful person then I wish her the best of luck with her life. An unusual case to be certain. It certainly is refreshing to hear of all the things she has done to comply with the judge's orders. The fact that she worked two jobs is a huge credit to her character.

Ed Young: I'm with the "lets give her a second chance" crowd here. She completed her sentence in good faith. ...

Some readers, however, saw it differently -- saying the erratic behavior of the victim in the days or moments before the incident didn't change some things.

nwokie2: So your trying to blame the victim, or paint her as less worthy? Doesn't change the fact that someone choose to drink until they were drunk, then got behind the wheel of a car and killed her. A sober person could have seen her in the roan and stopped or at least slowed down.

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